Hong Kong galloper Southern Legend has toyed with his rivals to claim a dominant victory in the Group 1 Kranji Mile (1600m) in Singapore on Saturday.
The Casper Fownes-trained runner ridden by Zac Purton was away well from the inside draw to settle on the speed before kicking well clear in the straight, running out a three length winner over Horse Of Fortune in second with Nova Strike a further length back in third.
Southern Legend returned a Timeform figure of 117, an equal career peak, the same figure he ran to when third in the Group 1 Champions Mile at Sha Tin the start prior.
Southern Legend is the highest rated winner of the race since it became a Group 1 in 2006, three pounds above 2017 winner Infantry who was fifth in this year’s renewal.
Hong Kong claimed the quinella with Horse Of Fortune in second running to a Timeform figure of 109, Nova Strike the best of the local runners in third and running up to his career peak of 106.
The Group 1 Singapore Guineas (1600m) saw Mr Clint come from back in the field to claim a one length victory over King Louis in second with Captain Jamie third giving Zac Purton a Group 1 double.
Mr Clint showed good speed to finish runner up to Be Bee in the first leg of the three-year-old challenge but was unable to go on with it in the Classic prior to a nice win in a Class 3 over 1400m leading into this race.
With the step up to the mile no issue, Mr Clint ran to a clear new career peak Timeform figure of 101, 13 pounds above his previous best in the Thr Classic but was five pounds below 2017 winner Forever Young.
Since the race became a Group 1 event in 2010, Mr Clint is the second lowest rated winner of the race, just one pound above 2016 winner Debt Collector (100+).
King Louis also came with a big run down the outside to finish runner up and return new career peak Timeform figure of 99, five pounds above his third placing in the Classic the start prior.
In the final feature race of the day, Lim’s Cruiser was able to weave through the field to take out the Group 1 Lion City Cup (1200m) with Zac Kasa a length and a half away in second and Countofmontecristo well back in third.
The Stephen Gray-trained runner came off a solid effort for third when resuming in the Group 2 Merlion Trophy last start and ran to a Timeform figure of 109, the same figure he ran to when winning this race last year.
Arguably the one to follow out of the race is three-year-old gelding Zac Kasa who went to the lead from the widest barrier but was unable to hold off Lim’s Cruiser over the final stages.
Zac Kasa ran to a clear new career peak Timeform figure of 104, 14 pounds above his effort in the The Classic the start prior.
Countofmontecristo placed yet again in a feature race and was well below his previous form running to 94.
